10 Body Language Blunders

6. Shifty Eyes

Though it may be a myth of history, many people believe that Richard Nixon was defeated by John F. Kennedy in the first televised presidential debates because of Nixon’s eyes. Kennedy had a natural television presence. Nixon, according to many viewers at the time, had eyes that seemed shift and unfocused. The lesson: make eye contact and rarely break it.

This doesn’t mean you can’t blink (it would be even worse if you didn’t) and you can glance down from time to time. But looking your interlocutor directly in the eyes says, whether fairly or not, “I’m honest and have nothing to hide.”